Seattle Bon Vivant

Miss Kitt, still fabulous after all these years!

I want to be Eartha Kitt when I grow up. At 77 she has the body, energy and flexibility (not to mention the chutzpah) of a twenty something.

Sultry. Funny. Multi-faceted. A fascinating and long career that has spanned theater, cabaret, television, film, and the music industry. All those languages! And the high heels!

I've been a fan of Eartha Kitt's Catwoman since the seventies, watching re-runs of the original Batman series. Later, her musical style captivated me, not to mention her acting. What a fun performer. She seems to enjoy herself in everything she does. Energetic. With a zest for life that some, a fraction of her age, are already lacking.

The Jazz Alley is a short walk from home. We arrived early enough to get a front row seat, arm's lenght from the stage. Dimitriou's Jazz Alley is the perfect venue for someone like Eartha. Close to her fans, I heard from a male friend in the know that she enjoys for the front row to be full of men. Handsome. Adoring. Young.

This was Eartha Kitt in Prime Time. Dinner and show. We ordered our food and delighted in the anticipation of what was to come.

Miss Kitt shined! Beautifully dressed, with perfect makeup and hair she amazes you with her vitality. All Pizazz and Razzamataz! Giggly, a tease, playful, sexy and wonderfully alive! She sang many favorites and it was obvious she loved it all; from toying with the male audience to singing old standards and incorporating a little dance and theatrics. She loved them and they loved her back. What a sight to see!

We had a wonderful time. The food was good and the service was great. Our table could not have been better and we even met some friends and neighbors while we were there. All in all a fabulous night.

I just wished the show had been longer. Eartha leaves you wanting more songs, more moves, more jokes, more. I guess at 77, we should all be so lucky to sing and dance non-stop like she does for as long as she can, not to mention walk without assistance. ;-) I'm buying her new book Rejuvenate! It's Never Too Late ASAP. Whatever she is doing to stay this fabulous, I MUST know.

Dimitriou's Jazz Alley
2033 6th Avenue, Seattle WA 98121
Phone (206) 441-9729 | Fax (206) 443-8247

324 films in 25 days...

The 30th Anniversary edition of Seattle International Film Festival starts today. Finally!

From Seattle Times:

"Festival facts

Seattle International Film Festival opens tonight with a 7:30 gala screening of "The Notebook" at the 5th Avenue Theatre and runs through June 13 at The Egyptian (801 E. Pine St.), Broadway Performance Hall (1625 Broadway), Harvard Exit (807 E. Roy St.), Pacific Place (600 Pine St.) and, beginning June 4, Cinerama (2100 Fourth Ave.).

Main box office: Pacific Place, third level. Single-ticket office: Broadway Performance Hall. Ticket prices are $4-$10 (more for galas); various passes also available; 206-324-9996 or www.seattlefilm.com.

For a complete schedule, visit www.seattlefilm.com or pick up The Seattle Times' film-festival guide at any Greater Seattle Starbucks store or SIFF venue. Please call ahead (206-324-9996) to verify schedule; all screenings are subject to change.

The Seattle Times provides daily coverage of the festival in Northwest Life (Monday-Thursday and Saturday), Ticket (Friday) and Entertainment & the Arts (Sunday), or online at www.seattletimes.com/movies."

Lunch at Olga's Russian Blinchiki

Yesterday afternoon I drove from downtown Seattle to Renton to try out a new Russian restaurant that opened last month, Olga's Blinchiki. The feel is cozy and casual. Comfort food. Russian music playing softly in the background. Russian magazines and periodicals available for diners to browse. Warm and welcoming staff, all Russian natives. Very friendly and helpful. Olga herself is delightful, booming with energy and a beautiful smile, making sure everyone is happy and well fed (Americans and Russians).



The walls a beautiful shade of yellow, with stencilled birch trees and mischievous kitties (even inside their restroom facilities the birch and cats stencilled wall theme continues)



A delicious lunch of Blinchiki (Russian crepes) , wonderful Borscht (garnished with sour cream and a side of black Russian bread) a pickled carrot, onion and cucumber salad. I ate most of it but was already anticipating dessert: Jolly Time ice cream, a concotion that according to Olga Plavidal, the owner of the restaurant, came to her "in a dream". A secret ice cream recipe that as part of the Grand Opening celebration is free with purchase of every combination meal.

I even managed to observe a very nice gentleman making "Pelmeni" , Russian ravioli with many types of fillings that they serve piping hot at the restaurant and sell frozen to go.



After lunch, I shopped, of course, for some Russian items to take home. Beautifully wrapped and colorful candies, A small red Russian Matryoshka doll, Mozums Auglu Teja or Latvian fruit tea (pieces of dried strawberry, cherry, apples, black currant, grapes, black ash berry, rosehip, hibiscus and orange peel) and a bottle of Kimmel Kvass Maizes that I've yet to try.



Since I had to drive back to work I took the ice cream with me and ate it by the spoonful along the way. It was scrumptious! A creamy and foamy vanilla based butterscotch, caramel ice cream so unique that I'm already salivating with anticipation for an encore. Jolly Time it was! It took me about 20 minutes to arrive in downtown Seattle. By then, the ice cream had been devoured.

Next time I'm in Renton, I'm making another stop at Olga's. It was well worth the drive.

Olga's Russian Blinchiki
95 South Tobin St.
Renton, WA 98055
(425) 917 8799

Devouring Almond's "Candyfreak"

Finally got a copy at our local Barnes & Noble last Sunday and highly recommed it to ANY of you candy lovers or chocoholics out there. The book is a riot to read, a wonderfully sweet (or bittersweet? ;-)) trip down candy memory lane. Steve Almond knows his candy and it shows. I don't recall laughing out loud so much and often as I have reading Candyfreak.

I missed Almond's Monday book reading (and candy sampling) at Elliot Bay Book Company last night ( schedule for 6pm, when I was just getting home, hungry and ready to cook) but I managed to catch most of Megan Sukys's chat with the author yesterday afternoon on KUOW's The Beat.

Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America should be required reading for all those with a sweet tooth and a few cavities. Now, if only I could find a bar or two Choco Lite!

Basque Chicken...

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by University Village's QFC to pay a visit to Amir, the nicest kosher butcher in all of Seattle. He is always so friendly, with a big smile. Happy to see you.

After catching up on life and friends, I told Amir how I was looking for a really plump and tender chicken to slow roast for dinner (and some for Saturday's BBQ) and he had just the right one for me. After browsing the produce department for the accompanying vegetables, picking up a Neil Rosenthal import (a bottle of a wine I'll talk about some other time) and a beautiful and thick Ciabatta I went home to prepare the meal.

This, ladies and gentlemen, was our dinner last night. A juicy and succulent chicken, perfectly seasoned, roasted in a bed of the sweetest organic baby carrots you can imagine and surrounded by red baby potatoes, Vidalia onions, green pepper and radishes.

The chicken was marinated in Etruria Lemon Olive Oil, the juice of one orange, red pepper flakes, Igo (Piment d’Espelette) and Hot Paprika (Pimentón De La Vera El Rey) , a few saffron threads and lots of garlic.

The only thing missing from the chicken dish was the beautiful yellow tomato I had picked up while at QFC. When I arrived home and started to put away my groceries I realized I had been charged $3.99 (by scanner mistake, perhaps?) for the tomato. ONE tomato. Needless to say, I'm taking it back tomorrow. :-)

Amir Kosher Butcher at QFC
University Village
2746 NE 45th, Seattle
Phone: 206-523-5160

Rhubarb Crisp

With the end of Rhubarb Season fast approaching I find myself, once again, like Alices's Rabbit. For dessert last night I reached for an old favorite, Martha Stewart's Rhubarb Crisp recipe. Its easy, fast and its delicious. However, it is not the crunchiest. I am still trying to modify the crumb top. I'll add nuts and more oats next time.

Rhubarb Crisp

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter
1 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons (White Lily flour)
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (Saravane Ceylon)
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 pounds (6 large stalks) rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (6 cups)
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 vanilla bean or one teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup granulated sugar (Trader Joe's Organic)
2 tablespoons cornstarch (Oetker)
Juice of 1 orange

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Butter six 8-ounce ramekins (or a 2 1/2-quart shallow casserole), and set aside. Make crumb mixture: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and oats. Cut in chilled butter until mixture comes together into clumps, about 4 to 5 minutes; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, stir to combine rhubarb, zest, orange juice, and vanilla seeds. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch; sprinkle over rhubarb until just coated. Pour rhubarb mixture into dish, and top with crumb mixture. Bake until the rhubarb is bubbly and crumb golden but not dark, about 45 minutes.

Let cool slightly, and serve warm. With double cream, crème fraîche or vanilla bean ice cream.

Serves 6

Three films...

All available on Netflix and all worth watching, albeit for different reasons: Osama for its poignancy, The Fog Of War because of its subject matter and Dieu est grand, je suis toute petite (God Is Great, and I'm Not) just because Audrey Tautou is in it, cute as a button (It was part of the line-up at last year's Seattle Jewish Film Festival. It took over a year to finally arrive on DVD).

Playing at Seattle Landmark Theaters is Lucas Belvaux's The Trilogy , a must see for fans of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Trois Couleurs.

A review of Sunday's Yo-Yo Ma Benaroya concert

Cello master Yo-Yo Ma breathtaking in concert

Praise for Seattle's new library and Koolhas

Rem Koolhaas has done it again. The new Seattle Central Library opens next Sunday and the reviews are in. Yesterday's New York Times had a wonderful article on it.

Today's Seattle Times has yet another write-up, a follow-up on their Pacific Norhtwest Magazine story: Meet Your New Central Library: Its Both a Testament To And A Test Of Civic Chutzpah

About Rem Koolhas

From Seattle Times:
"GETTING THERE ON SUNDAY

Address: 1000 Fourth Avenue
Free bus service: With 30,000 people expected to tour the new building Sunday, Metro is offering free rides to the Central Library from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. You'll need to pick up a free ticket — designed as a bookmark — at any branch of The Seattle Public Library; at Metro's Customer Service office at the King Street Center, 201 S. Jackson St.; or Westlake Station, mezzanine level. Free tickets will be available outside Central Library entrances for return trips. Patrons may also contact Metro at 206-553-3000 for more information.

Parking: The new library has an underground parking garage that can hold 143 vehicles. But don't count on parking there next Sunday for the opening ceremonies; the garage will probably be filled by early-arriving volunteers who are helping with the opening. And yes, they will be paying to park there — just as you will be if you use the garage after Sunday.

The library will validate parking for its users for up to two hours; without validation, rates are up to double the validated price.

The lowest validated rate is $3 for 20 to 40 minutes of parking. It goes up to $4 for an hour and $10.50 for two hours. The non-validated rate is $4 for 20 minutes or less, $8 for an hour and $14 for two hours.

The parking garage will be run by AMPCO Parking.

Traffic: Two lanes of traffic on Fourth Avenue will be closed from 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Sunday."

Finally, Isabel Allende, 2004 Seattle Public Library's featured author wil be visiting next week.

Seattle Reads

*You might need to register (its free!) or log in to Seattle Times or New York Times to read the full stories.

Sustainable foods dilemma...

We got these beautiful Tiger Prawns at Pike Place Market ($18.00 a pound) to make for dinner.



Marinated in Lemonoro, Etruria Lemon Olive Oil, red pepper flakes and a little sea salt. They were to be grilled along with green onions (the ones we purchased Friday at the market) marinated (see below) in Balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, garlic and olive oil. Caramelized heaven.



A tomato salad and roasted baby reds would round off the meal. The rest of the Rhubarb cornbread for dessert. Everything was delicious and of course, fresh as can be.

After dinner it ocurred to me to Google for prawn recipes since my prawn marinade had been, although simple and delicious, sort of basic and uninspired. While doing so, I found this article . Needless to say, my heart sank. I'm on the lookout for more information on these babies and perhaps more ethical ways of satisfying our prawn cravings.